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Incarnum
Incarnum is an amorphous magical substance made up of the soul energies of all sentient creatures: living, dead, and, it is theorized, those even not yet born. In its pure form, incarnum resembles a radiant mist, deep blue in color. Those trained or gifted in manipulating incarnum can shape it into physical objects (called soulmelds) or simply use it to imbue themselves with power. Shaping incarnum has no ill effect on the soul energy used. Incarnum is not consumed when it is manipulated by a meldshaper or other character—it is merely "borrowed" from the nigh-infinite supply in the multiverse. That said, the wielders of incarnum recognize that the substance is more than mere magic. It is, very literally, the essence of all creatures. Talented wielders of incarnum learn to harness specific qualities of incarnum (and by extension, properties of the souls tapped for this power), including particular alignments, insights, experiences, and the like. In fact, most wielders of incarnum have strong moral and ethical outlooks inextricably linked to their use of the substance. SOULMELDS A soulmeld is a semipermanent magical effect crafted from raw incarnum. Soulmelds are "worn" much like magic items. Once shaped (a daily process much like prepping spells), a soulmeld lasts as long as its creator wants it to. Those who learn to access the incarnum fastened to their souls gain the ability to shape incarnum into magical objects called soulmelds. People who can shape soulmelds are called meldshapers. A soulmeld somewhat resembles a magic item or a spell effect in physical form. It is the physical embodiment of incarnum, linked to the meldshaper's body and worn almost like a physical item. Shaping incarnum into soulmelds requires time and effort, much like a wizard preparing spells. Unlike spells, though, soulmelds generally last until the meldshaper decides to unshape them, withdrawing the incarnum for future use. ESSENTIA Essentia is a character's personal store of incarnum. Most characters can't access this pool of energy, though certain classes and feats open up this potential. Essentia can be invested into soulmelds in order to enhance their effects. Essentia can be reinvested each round to augment soulmeld and other effects as the meldshaper wishes. Essentia is the substance of one's personal soul energy. Everybody has it, but only some people learn to manipulate it to enhance magical effects. Meldshapers, for instance, can invest it into soulmelds to make them more powerful. Every soulmeld can be enhanced by investing essentia into it, in much the same way as spells improve with higher caster levels. Unlike caster level, a soulmeld's invested essentia is not a fixed number; it can shift up or down as the meldshaper desires. The more powerful the character, the more essentia he can invest into his soulmelds and thus the more powerful they can become. CHAKRAS Chakras are the body's ten centers of power: crown, feet, hands, arms, brow, shoulders, throat, waist, heart, and soul. Meldshapers have access to all their chakras for the purpose of shaping soulmelds to occupy them. CHAKRA BINDS A soulmeld can be bound to a chakra in order to gain a secondary (and often more potent) effect from it. Doing so cuts off the corresponding body slot from magic item use—binding a soulmeld to your feet chakra means you can't wear magic boots, for example. A skilled meldshaper can bind some of his soulmelds to chakras to gain new powers from those soulmelds. When a meldshaper binds a meld to a chakra, it becomes supernaturally tied or affixed to that body location. As a side effect of the chakra bind, the meldshaper loses the ability to benefit from a magic item occupying the body slot associated with that chakra. A meldshaper can shape soulmelds to occupy any of his chakras even at 1st level. However, the chakras are defined by a relative level of power or diffi culty for the purposes of binding soulmelds to them. As a meldshaper increases in level, he learns to bind soulmelds first to his least chakras (crown, feet, and hands), then lesser (arms, brow, and shoulders), then greater (throat and waist), and eventually to his heart and soul chakras. A meldshaper can only bind soulmelds to a limited number of his chakras, but that number increases as he gains levels. Each soulmeld description indicates which chakra or chakras it can be bound to, and the effects of binding it to each chakra. In general, binding a soulmeld to a chakra produces an effect similar to that granted by a magic item worn on thecorresponding body slot. For example, binding a soulmeld to the throat chakra often grants the meldshaper abilities related to protection or discernment, just as a magic amulet or scarab usually does. Other thematic ties link the powers of soulmelds to their chakra binds. A soulmeld bound to the throat chakra might also grant the meldshaper a breath weapon or some ability related to speech, since these abilities are symbolically connected to the throat. See the Behind the Curtain sidebar entitled Body Slot Affinities on page 288 of the Dungeon Master's Guide for more about the abilities granted by magic items that occupy different body slots. This is Wizard of the Coast licensed content and must be significantly altered or deleted to not infringe copyright. Category:Magic